A SHOPPER said she was "gobsmacked" to see heaps of food being thrown out at Bradford's new Marks & Spencer store in The Broadway.

Natalia Glover said she saw staff filling at least five shopping trolleys with produce in the food hall area of the shop.

But when she asked whether the food was being reduced, a staff member said it was "going in the bin".

She said the worker told her they were not allowed to reduce stock during the shopping centre's first two weeks of trading.

Miss Glover, a charity worker from Bradford, said: "What a complete waste of good food that people without could have."

She said while she did not want to sound negative about The Broadway opening, she knew what a challenging time it was for charities and the food could have instead gone to a good cause.

Her photographs of the trolleys have been shared more than 1,500 times on social media, but M&S has since been at pains to say the produce taken off the shelves did not end up in landfill.

A spokesman for the company said: "Our priority is to reduce food waste whilst ensuring that, where there is surplus, we put it to the best possible use.

"Nothing goes to landfill and anything we cannot sell or give to a charity partner is sent for recycling through a system that creates energy from food.

"We are in the process of linking up with a charity at our new Bradford store with our partner Neighbourly.com."

Meanwhile, food left over when the chain's Darley Street store closed last week has been sent to a local foodbank.

The old shop closed when the new store at The Broadway opened up.

The Darley Street store donated its remaining 'in-date' food products to the Bradford Metropolitan Foodbank, as well as several local hostels, for distribution to people in need throughout the district.

Bradford-based labelling business Watermill Press, a long-time supporter of food banks in the city, helped to pack and transport the goods.

Frances Atkins, food coordinator for the foodbank, said: "In 2014 we distributed nearly 10,000 food parcels to people in need throughout the Bradford district.

"The demand for our services has increased nearly 500 per cent since 2011.

"We need the help of as many supporters as possible to keep up with this level of demand."

Heather Sharp at Watermill Press added: "The weeks prior to Christmas are our busiest time but when the call for help came we managed to free up one of our delivery vehicles for the day.

“All our staff are working flat out fulfilling customers’ orders so our managing director, Dale Deacon, went along to support the foodbank in emptying the store and transporting the food."

Anyone wishing to help the foodbank can visit bradfordfoodbank.com.